Iran: Unprecedented intensification of executions

The number of executions in Iran exceeded 150 between September 22 and October 21, an unprecedented figure for this period in the last ten years. Since the new Iranian president, Massoud Pezeshkian, took office on July 28, 2024, more than 386 executions have taken place.

The mullahs’ Intelligence Ministry has intensified arrests of sympathizers and families of the People’s Mojahedin, sworn enemies of the regime, because of their family ties or their alleged support for the resistance, in order to prevent any social movement or uprising against the power in place. In July 2024, this organization submitted to the UN a list of 3,600 sympathizers and relatives arrested by the regime, which had already massacred nearly 30,000 of its members in 1988.

At the same time, the judiciary is extending the prison sentences of political prisoners, such as Maryam Akbari Monfared, one of the longest-serving political prisoners in Iran, and Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Prize winner, under false reasons in order to prevent their release. Maryam Akbari Monfared’s “crime” consists of having filed a complaint against the execution of her brothers and sisters.

Iran’s religious dictator, like any other dictator, resorts to executions and relentless repression when he finds himself in extreme difficulty. On October 29, Khamenei’s executioners amputated the fingers of the right hand of two brothers, Shahab and Mehrdad Teimouri, with a guillotine specially designed to amputate hands, in Urmia prison, in the north of the country. Five other inmates in the same prison are also awaiting the execution of their amputation sentences. These two brothers were arrested in December 2018 for theft and sentenced by the judicial system to amputation of the fingers of their right hand.

Amnesty International’s last report on this form of inhumane punishment dates back to 2018. It appears that, under international pressure, the Iranian regime had stopped applying or, at least, publicizing the use of amputation. However, this regime fears losing control of an angry society that could explode at any moment like a powder keg.

The example of Germany

Any complacency with the godfather of executions, terrorism and war will encourage him to further violate human rights and threaten world peace. Europe and the international community should follow the example of Germany, which, after the execution of one of its citizens of Iranian origin kidnapped by the religious dictator four years ago, decided to close all Iranian consulates in Germany. The European Union must condition its relations with Iran on respect for human rights and a halt to executions, otherwise this dictatorship will continue to trample peace and stability in the world and the region, as evidenced by the recent conflict in the Middle East.

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